Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Accommodating strangers

[Elizabeth Magill (pastorlizm]

At Mosaic Commons we charge a donation of $10 per night for members
after their first five? nights and we charge non-members $20 (or so,
I'm not a detail person). Everyone needs a member-host and some member
hosts count them as their own reservation rather than as non-members,
which is fine.

We have one or two people who specifically want to sponsor coho folk,
so when asked we send that on to those hosts, they decide yes or no
(as far as I know without checking ID).

I get the requests because they come to our generic "info" email
address, but send them to the community for a host if I don't know who
else to send it to.

Interestingly we've gotten several requests for folks visiting Berlin.
The other one.
Detailed questions about accessibility to the trains, museums, etc.
We also had a couple doing a video tour of the many Berlins of the world.

Liz
Mosaic Commons
Berlin Massachusetts, a very small town without public transportation.
On Sat, Aug 25, 2018 at 2:53 PM Muriel Kranowski <murielk [at] vt.edu> wrote:
>
> Same at Shadowlake Village as at Cornerstone - one of us must be the
> responsible host. I don't know if we still get those requests - we used to,
> at one time, from people driving to Washington DC for whom we would be a
> very convenient stopover off the interstate. I would have to revisit our
> website to see if we still mention our guest rooms. (Our website used to
> brag about our great Common House, in the early years when we were more in
> marketing mode.)
>
> I think that, no matter your location, strangers who know about cohousing
> will find you and try to use you as a handy cheap motel on their travels. I
> would feel much more hospitable about letting other cohousers use our guest
> facilities than just random people who have no connection to anyone here.
> Given the very friendly and open nature of some cohousers, if you forward
> these pleas to your listserv, chances are that one of your members will say
> "Sure, I'll host this total stranger." so it probably makes sense to at
> least discuss it and get a sense of people's comfort level with it.
>    Muriel at Shadowlake Village
>
> On Sat, Aug 25, 2018 at 9:58 AM, Philip Dowds via Cohousing-L <
> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>
> > At Cornerstone, anyone staying in the guest room must be sponsored by a
> > specific resident household (not a team or committee) acting as host.  The
> > host is responsible for cleaning and re-setting the room when the guest
> > departs; theoretically, the host is also liable for any damage or
> > misbehavior by the guest, but in 17 years, we’ve never really had a
> > problem.  So, if I’m comfortable hosting total strangers (which I did one
> > time) — and, I’ve not used up my guest room booking quota — then so be it,
> > let the guests begin.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Philip Dowds
> > Cornerstone Village Cohousing
> > Cambridge, MA
> >
> > mobile: 617.460.4549
> > email:   rpdowds [at] comcast.net
> >
> > > On Aug 23, 2018, at 2:20 PM, Cheron Dudley <cherondudley [at] gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > We are pretty new co-housers and ask for advice:
> > >
> > > Our common house has room for guests and we’ve used it for friends and
> > family.
> > > We are getting requests from others - often total strangers and/or other
> > co-housers - to stay with us.
> > > In theory, this is a fantastic idea but the details are still being
> > worked out.
> > > If it’s my cousin staying, I greet her and play host for a day or two.
> > > If it’s a total stranger - who plays host? Are there any safety or
> > security issues to consider?
> > > Is there a team that handles this for the community?
> > > Thanks for any useful tips.
> > >
> > > Cheron at Quimper Village
> > >
> > >
> > >
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-- 
-Liz
(The Rev.) Elizabeth M. Magill
Minister to the Affiliates, Ecclesia Ministries
www.ecclesiaministriesmission.org
www.mosaic-commons.org
508-450-0431